


The Protector and The Deep

by KittyDemon9000



Series: Ninjago Gets Hurt [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Dragons, Drowning, Grief/Mourning, How Do I Tag, Imprisonment, Originally supposed to be a one shot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Presumed Dead, no beta we die like how they thought kai died
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26571625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyDemon9000/pseuds/KittyDemon9000
Summary: Zane and Jay had finally fallen asleep, but it evaded Kai no matter how hard he tried.It wasn’t like he wanted to be up, FSM no, he was exhausted. But a small feeling kept him up. A feeling he hadn’t felt with this intensity in years.Nya had nicknamed it his Big Brother Instinct™. The gist of it was that whenever something truly horrible would happen to anyone he considered family, he would know.And so far, it hasn’t failed him yet. In his younger years, he’d doubted it, but after it warned him that one time when Nya got too close to the forge, he’d embraced it wholeheartedly.And right now, it was blaring every alarm in his head.
Series: Ninjago Gets Hurt [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932640
Comments: 19
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thalassophobia can include fear of being in deep bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, of sea waves, sea creatures, and fear of distance from land
> 
> Also, this takes place before they catch the wind dragon

The musky scent of metal and death filled the cage, and Kai couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to its previous inhabitants.

Were they used as dragon bait as well? Or were they left out in the sun and died of heatstroke and dehydration?

Kai ran his fingers through Zane’s synthetic hair as the Dragon Hunters drove through the endless desert that was The First Realm. Zane and Jay had finally fallen asleep, but it evaded Kai no matter how hard he tried.

It wasn’t like he wanted to be up, FSM no, he was exhausted. But a small feeling kept him up. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt with this intensity in years.

Nya had nicknamed it his Big Brother Instinct™. The gist of it was that whenever something horrible would happen to anyone he considered family, he would know. 

And so far, it hasn’t failed him yet. In his younger years, he’d doubted it, but after it warned him that one time when Nya got too close to the forge, he’d embraced it wholeheartedly.

And right now, it was blaring every alarm in his head.

Cole and Wu hadn’t been able to come along on the hunt, so if things got hairy they wouldn’t have someone to bail them out, which was…..less than assuring.

The vehicle came to a lurching stop, knocking the three ninjas around and waking up Zane and Jay.

Without much hesitation, the dragon hunters removed them from the cages, tying the chains around tightly and forcing them to their knees, discouraging any escape attempt.

Kai couldn’t help but stare at their location. It was still a barren wasteland covered in dust and death, but if Kai wasn’t hallucinating like a certain blue ninja, they seemed to be next to a lake.

The ledge they were near was a few feet above the water, but despite the distance, Kai couldn’t help the cold fear that grabbed his heart. He could swim now(thanks to Nya), but not very well, and his thalassophobia was far from gone.

Iron Baron approached the three captives, looking them over.

“Today, we’re hunting a very special dragon.” He spoke aloud, seemingly finished with his observation. Kai was unsure if he was talking to the ninja or the other dragon hunters. He cast a glance at the lake and pointed to the center. “For years, she’s evaded us, but today we bring home the Great Water Dragon!”

The dragon hunters cheered, sending a chill down Kai’s spine. He cast a worried glance at Zane and Jay. 

“Grab the blue one.” Iron Baron commanded.

Much to Kai and Zane’s horror, a pair of hunters roughly grabbed the blue ninja and hauled him over to the edge. They attached a sturdy looking chain to the bindings around Jay, and that was when Kai realized what was happening.

They were being used as bait. 

This is what he was being warned about.

“Any last words?” One of the hunters asked, preparing to push Jay over the edge.

“WAIT!” Kai yelled, trying to get to his feet. He was roughly pushed back down, his face in the dirt. 

Much to his surprise, the hunter did stop. They then looked at Iron Baron, looking for orders. The Baron made a motion with his hand, and the hunter pulled Jay away from the edge, but still kept a tight grip on his chain.

Iron Baron gave Kai a long glare, practically daring him to speak again.

“W-wait! Don’t push him in.” Kai repeated, tasting dirt in his mouth as he spoke. “D-don’t you think it’d be a bad idea to put the Master of Lightning in the water?”

The Baron gave him a confused look, but Zane seemed to figure out what he was trying to say.

“If you push Jay into the water, he’d be able to use his powers and electrocute you.”

One of the hunters, the one with a spider-like machine for legs. “Yeah, right! We have the Dragonbone Blade.”

But Zane was quick to counter. “Which would be useless. If Jay was in the water, it would act as a conductor, and he could electrify the water, blade or no blade. And being electrocuted by Jay can be very painful”

The hunter holding Jay cast an uneasy look at him as if he was going to spark at any moment.

But Iron Baron wasn’t having it. “Bah!” He scoffed. “If you think using him as bait is such a bad idea, why don’t you do it yourself?”

Kai’s blood ran cold. There was no way he was letting Zane do this. As much as he didn’t want to lose Jay, he didn’t want to lose Zane either. Not again.

Before Zane could answer, Kai blurted: “What about me?”

From his spot on the floor, he couldn’t see the panicked look Zane was giving, but it wouldn’t have stopped him anyway.

Iron Baron gave him a look, a silent jester to continue. Kai swallowed nervously. He couldn’t mess this up. If he did, he had a pretty good chance at losing Jay or Zane.

“Jay is the Master of Lightning, and you wouldn’t be able to get him out of the water without a risk of being shocked. Zane is the Master of Ice. He could just freeze the water. Plus, he’s made of metal, so he’d sink.”

(Off to the side, Zane looked almost offended at the suggestion of him sinking, but he didn’t say anything.)

“And I’m….I’m the Master of Fire. I wouldn’t be able to use my powers at all in the water.” Kai’s voice wavered slightly. He lifted his head to meet Iron Baron’s gaze. “I’m your safest bet.”

Kai held his breath as Baron thought for a second.

He made a silent gesture to the hunter. Kai’s eyes widened as the hunter held Jay like he was going to throw him, but relaxed once Jay was roughly thrown back at them, colliding with Zane once he’d landed. Meanwhile, two hunters grabbed Kai from behind and dragged him to the edge of the lake. The long chain was attached to him, Iron Baron holding the other end. He pushed Kai but held the chain tight, so he was almost hanging over the edge.

Kai stared at the water with wide eyes. He couldn’t even see the bottom.

“If you come up without that dragon,” Iron Baron whispered into his ear. “I’ll see to it that your friends will be the ones used as bait, no matter how many of my hunters get injured.”

And then he was dropped.

The freezing water enveloped him and rushed into his ears, muffling everything.

The chain was heavy around his waist, dragging him further into the black abyss below.

Kai’s first instincts were to start heading up. Up was out of the water, up was away from the darkness and cold, up was safe.

He started kicking and flailing, practically clawing his way up.

But then he saw the dark silhouettes of Jay and Zane, hunched over on the ledge.

_If you come up without that dragon, I’ll see to it your friends will be the ones used as bait, no matter how many of my hunters get injured._

And he stopped.

He let the chains drag him down.

For the first time in his entire life, he feared something more than the water.

The water was so dark now, and there was still no sign of the bottom.

His lungs felt like they were about to burst.

A flash of movement in the corner of his eye.

The chain above him going slack and falling below him, dragging him down even further.

The water burning his throat and lungs.

The soft sand cradling his frame.

And the sea-blue eyes that watched him.

At least the others were safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was only supposed to be a one shot, but my creativity said otherwise

Umi was an old dragon, nearly as old as Firstbourne herself! She’d be around for almost everything that had happened in the First Realm.

She was there for the beginnings of both Oni and Dragon, when the First Spinjitzu Master was born, when he’d left to make his own place, when the Oni disappeared, and for the rise of the Dragon Hunters.

But  _ never _ in those thousands of years of life had she felt anything like this.

It’d be best to start at the beginning.

Umi has been swimming along the bottom of their lake(like usual) when the dragon hunters had shown up(also like usual). Usually, Umi just ignored them. Their chains weren’t long enough to reach her, and she had the advantage in the water if they tried to get into it. Worst case scenario, she could just retreat to the tunnel at the very bottom of the lake. It was much too deep for any human to reach by themselves, and it led directly to Firstbourne’s cave.

The Dragon Hunters did nothing for a few seconds, but then a human-shaped shadow was hung over the edge.  _ That  _ caught Umi’s attention. The Hunters were always  _ very _ careful to make sure no one would fall in. The shadow disappeared, but then it came back.

Then something was dropped in.

Umi snorted, sending small bubbles up. So they were using their own as bait, were they? Well, she wasn’t a mere fish to be caught with such cheap tactics.

At first, the human started flailing in some butchered attempt at swimming, but then…...it stopped. It  _ allowed _ the chains tied around its waist to drag it down.

That concerned Umi ever so slightly. If this was a hunter, why would it be tied up? And why did it stop? Was it tired? Didn’t it know it would drown?

It either didn’t know or didn’t care, as the human didn’t make another attempt at “swimming.”

In fact, now that Umi was closer, this human didn’t look anything like a hunter. Instead of pale skin the color of bones, this human was a soft brown, similar to the dark wood of the trees that used to surround the lake(before the Hunters had taken them). Its hair was an even darker brown, while its clothing was a beautiful red, not much unlike the scales of a fire dragon.

(Umi’s heart ached at the memory of Agni. Such a young spark taken away all too quickly).

Umi frowned. This human was very different, and it perplexed her. She hated being perplexed.

Umi bolted forward, just fast enough that the water wouldn’t be too disturbed, and cut the chain. The strange metal snapped with ease, causing the human to sink even faster. Umi gave the other end of the chain a quick tug, then pulled. Not enough to bring the hunters into her lake, but enough that they would think they caught something. She gave one last hard yank with her teeth before letting go. Now the hunters would assume their bait was eaten and leave.

The human landed softly on the sandy floor of the lake, it’s head facing up.

For the briefest of seconds, the two made eye contact. And something clicked in Umi. Something about the human felt…...almost familiar. As if she’d met it before.

And it’s  _ eyes _ . They were some of the prettiest Umi had ever seen. Even in the dark of the lake, they glittered a golden amber that seemed to have hints of gold in them.

And the emotion in them. On the few occasions Umi had seen the eyes of the hunters, they were full of bloody rage and anger, threats to murder and kill and take. But this one was different. Instead, there was a resignation in them.

The human  _ knew _ it was going to die. It had accepted it.

Umi couldn’t let that happen.

She couldn’t explain what caused her to act, but the next thing she knew, she had the human scooped up in her front claws and being carried to her cave.

The air pocket was mostly unnecessary, given Umi could breathe underwater, but now she found herself thankful for it.

The air entered her lungs and, while not painful, was mildly uncomfortable. The shift from breathing water to air always was, no matter how many times she did it(which, granted, wasn’t much but still). She deposited the human next to her, but its eyes remained closed and didn’t do anything.

Her eyes flicked over it, trying to remember what to do. When a drakeling had almost drowned, pressure was put on the chest. Then Kaze or another Wind Dragon would manipulate the wind so the dragonet could get as much air as possible. But Kaze wasn’t here, and humans weren’t as durable as dragons. She could very easily break its ribs.

Umi carefully flipped the human onto its side(so it wouldn’t choke on the water) and gave it’s chest a gentle squeeze.

The effect was almost instantaneous, with water erupting from its mouth. The human seemed to gain temporary consciousness and snapped its eyes open. Rolling onto its stomach, it coughed up two lungs worth of lake water.

The human took gulps of air, it’s body shaking as it did so. It let out a few wet sounding coughs before it emptied its stomach.

Umi held back a noise of disgust. She honestly should’ve seen that coming.

The human took a few more gulps of air before it seemed to lose consciousness again.

Not wanting the human to be lying in its own sick, Umi carefully wrapped her tail around the human. She gently set him in the shallow end of the water, careful to keep its head above it.

Carefully, Umi started uncoiling her tail. The human let out a small whimper but made no attempts at movement.

And that’s how Umi found herself in her current predicament.

While she  _ could _ just bring it back to the surface where it came from, this human didn’t seem to be on good terms with the dragon hunters. On the other hand, there wasn’t anything that said the human liked dragons either, so she could be putting herself in danger.

Umi let out a sigh. Firstbourne would know what to do.

She froze at the thought. What if…..?

Umi cast a glance to the tunnel on the opposite end of the cave, then back at the human. The tunnel was full of water and narrow, preventing many visitors. There weren’t many water dragons left after all, and most of them stayed in their lakes. The trip to Firstbourne’s took about a day, but that was when Umi was going at a leisurely speed. If she went as fast as she could, she could probably make it in about half the time. The human definitely wouldn’t be able to hold its breath for that long though….. _ but _ as a creature of water, she had  _ some _ control over it. Just enough to create a small air bubble, say around the size of the human’s head……

Umi scooped up the human in her tail and carefully checked that it was secure.

She didn’t fully understand what(or why) she was doing, but gosh darn it, she was going to figure this human out.


	3. Chapter 3

“KAI!” Zane yelled. He tried to break away from the guards but was held back. He struggled, trying to break free, but he did not have the leverage, and the chains were restricting his movements.

The sounds of laughter entered his ears, filling Zane with rage. He gave a chilling glare to Iron Baron, but the leader didn’t seem to notice.

“Now, we wait.” The Baron commanded. Each of the hunters grabbed their hooks except for the two who stood behind Zane and Jay.

While the Hunters were doing that, Zane was busy. He silently brought up every file and memory he had about the limits of the human body and the limits of Kai.

The average human could survive up to depths of 282 feet below the water and cold water temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. These two couldn’t do much to help him, much to his dismay. He was too far away from the water for any accurate readings, and he doubted the Dragon Hunters would be so kind as to let him.

Kai wasn’t a strong swimmer, so if there were any currents or an undertow, there wasn’t much hope he’d be able to get out of it. And the chain would probably severely impair his already lacking abilities.

The average human could also survive about 11 minutes without oxygen. Zane set a stop watch for 10 minutes, given at least a minute had already passed.

“Get ‘em over here.” Iron Baron commanded. The two guards suddenly dragged Zane and Jay to the edge. “I want them to watch as their sweet protector gets eaten.”

Zane zeroed in on the water, fighting down a smile. He could see the red fabric of Kai's gi slowly getting closer as the fire ninja swam up. He got closer and closer until… he started sinking again.

Zane’s eyes widened with fear. No. _No._ Kai was so close! Why did he stop?

He looked at the stop watch in his HUD. 3 minutes. Kai had at most 7 minutes more before the damage would be irreparable.

He looked back at the chain. It was still going. How deep was this lake?!?

Perhaps the depth and cold could be a problem.

The lake remained silent and still, and did the hunters.

At 4 minutes, the chain started tugging. The hunters had only a moments warning, which none were able to react in time. The vehicle they attached the chain to was being dragged toward the lake by(what Zane assumed was) the dragon. The drivers finally came to their senses and started driving, stopping their trip into the lake.

The chain was tense, and neither side seemed to be making any leeway. The vehicle was kicking up a cloud of dust, to which Jay closed his eyes to keep out the dust. But Zane kept his eyes open, despite there not being much visibility.

The brief tug of war went on for what felt like hours, but in reality, it was less than a minute. Without warning, the vehicle lurched forward, seeming to have won the battle. The chain was coming up at an alarming pace, almost as if……

The chain end was yanked from the water, flailing dangerously. The two guards retreated out of fear, and Jay pulled Zane back away from the edge just before it caught him in the face.

The vehicle finally stopped, with the end of the chain mere feet from the two ninja.

Zane stared with horror and the end.

There was nothing there.

No cloth caught in the links, no blood that could offer an explanation, nothing.

Kai was gone.

Just..... _gone_.

Zane scrambled to the edge, nearly falling in with how far he was leaning.

“Kai, please,” Zane whispered to the water. Maybe Kai has been able to get free of the chain, right? Or maybe….. maybe…..

Zane had nothing. Everything about this situation pointed toward Kai being…..

There was a gentle pressure on his shoulder. 

Zane looked up.

Jay was leaning there with a withdrawn expression on his face. His eyes were on the spot where Kai had disappeared below the water.

The two ninja sat in silence.

Perhaps they should have been feeling sadness for the loss of their brother, anger at the Hunters for causing his death, or disappointment in themselves for not being able to do anything.

But instead, there was just an emptiness. A muted grief, if you will.

Around them, the dragon hunters were moving, most likely packing up from their failed hunt, but the two ninja didn’t care. They didn’t even try to fight when they were roughly thrown into the cage.

It was a small beeping that broke the two from their trance.

It was the stop watch Zane had set, having at last reached 10 minutes.

If Kai miraculously wasn’t gone then, he most certainly was now.

Rather ironic wasn’t it? That the master of fire was killed by the very thing that could douse a flame.

“What are we going to do now?” Jay whispered. It was barely heard over the roaring of the vehicles.

Zane thought for a second. What _would_ they do? Cole and Wu, or rather Rocky Dangerbuff and Junior, would probably be informed of the outcome rather soon, so the pain of explaining it could be avoided(small mercies). 

One thing was clear, though. They were all in danger, even Cole and Wu. Every hour they spent among the Dragon Hunters is an hour more for their true identities to be revealed, and who's to say Zane and Jay wouldn’t be…..

“We need to escape,” Zane said finally. “The longer we spend here, the more danger we are in.”

Jay looked hesitant. “And how are we supposed to do that?”

Zane opened his mouth but hesitated. “I…..I don’t know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts/ideas can be sent to https://kittydemon9000.tumblr.com/
> 
> Edit: I wouldn’t hope for a consistent upload schedule, as this was originally a one shot, so even I’m still trying to find out what’s going to happen. BUT I will do my best to make sure I don’t forget about this and not I upload for a month


End file.
